| Golden Arena for Best Actor | |
| Awarded For: | "Performance by an actor in a leading role" |
| Presenter: | Pula Film Festival Jury |
| Country: | Yugoslavia (1955–1990) Croatia (1992–present) |
| Year: | 1955 |
| Holder: | Rene Bitorajac (2021) |
| Website: | Official Website |
See main article: Pula Film Festival. The Golden Arena awards were established in 1955 as the Yugoslav national film awards, presented annually at the Pula Film Festival. From 1955 to 1990 the awards were given for highest achievements in Yugoslav cinema. In 1991 the festival was cancelled due to the breakup of Yugoslavia, only to resume in 1992 as the Croatian film awards festival. It has been held every year since (with the exception of the 1994 edition which was also cancelled).
Since each Pula Film Festival includes screenings of all the locally produced feature films made in the preceding 12 months (which is made possible due to the local film industry's relatively low output), everyone involved in making them is considered automatically qualified for the Golden Arena award. Therefore there are no Academy Award-style shortlists of nominees announced prior to the actual awarding ceremony, although some festival editions did award runner-up acting awards, called Silver Arena.
The awards are given by the jury of five or six members, usually consisting of prominent filmmakers and film critics. Some festival editions also had Best Actor winners as voted by audiences, but these are not considered Golden Arena awards. Also, in the 1950s and 1960s awards in the acting category were given for actors' whole body of work in the preceding year so some of the more prolific recipients are officially listed as having won the Golden Arena award for several films made that year.
The following is a list of winners of the Golden Arena for Best Actor at the Pula Film Festival.
| Year | Winner | English title(s) | Original title(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Moments of Decision | Trenutki odločitve | |
| 1956 | (shared) | Don't Look Back, My Son | Ne okreći se sine |
| 1956 | (shared) | Big and Small | Veliki i mali |
| 1957 | Master of His Own Body | Svoga tela gospodar | |
| 1958 | Tri koraka u prazno | ||
| 1959 | Miss Stone | Mis Ston | |
| 1960 | Atomic War Bride | Rat | |
| 1961 | Veselica | ||
| 1962 | Dr | ||
| 1963 | Men | Muškarci | |
| 1964 | The March to River Drina | Marš na Drinu | |
| 1965 | Three The Enemy | Tri Sovražnik | |
| 1966 | (shared) | Looking Into the Eyes of the Sun | Pogled u zjenicu sunca |
| 1966 | (shared) | Rondo | Rondo |
| 1967 | I Even Met Happy Gypsies The Birch Tree The Feast | Skupljači perja Breza Praznik | |
| 1968 | Before the Truth Wolf of Prokletije | Pre istine Vuk sa Prokletija | |
| 1969 | When You Hear the Bells The Bridge | Kad čuješ zvona Most | |
| 1970 | Oxygen | Oxygen | |
| 1971 | Black Seed | Crno seme | |
| 1972 | The Master and Margaret Traces of a Black Haired Girl | Maestro i Margarita Tragovi crne devojke | |
| 1973 | A Performance of Hamlet in the Village of Mrdusa Donja The Battle of Sutjeska | Bombaši Predstava Hamleta u Mrduši Donjoj Sutjeska | |
| 1974 | The Wedding | Svadba | |
| 1975 | Fear | Strah Doktor Mladen | |
| 1976 | Idealist | Idealist | |
| 1977 | Manhunt Beasts The Written Off Return | Hajka Beštije Povratak otpisanih | |
| 1978 | Bravo Maestro | Bravo maestro | |
| 1979 | The Return | Povratak | |
| 1980 | Rad na određeno vreme | ||
| 1981 | The Falcon | Banović Strahinja | |
| 1982 | Savamala | Savamala | |
| 1983 | Something In-Between | Nešto između | |
| 1984 | Balkan Spy | Balkanski špijun | |
| 1985 | When Father Was Away on Business | Otac na službenom putu | |
| 1986 | Evening Bells | Večernja zvona | |
| 1987 | Officer with a Rose | Oficir s ružom | |
| 1988 | The Glembays | Glembajevi | |
| 1989 | Cafe Astoria | Kavana Astoria | |
| 1990 | Silent Gunpowder | Gluvi barut | |
| Year | Winner | English film title | Original film title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Festival was cancelled. | ||
| 1992 | The Murmur of the Shell | Školjka šumi | |
| 1993 | The Golden Years | Zlatne godine | |
| 1994 | Award ceremony was cancelled. | ||
| 1995 | Washed Out | Isprani | |
| 1996 | The Seventh Chronicle | Sedma kronika | |
| 1997 | Mondo Bobo | Mondo Bobo | |
| 1998 | Transatlantic | Transatlantik | |
| 1999 | Madonna | Bogorodica | |
| 2000 | Marshal Tito's Spirit | Maršal | |
| 2001 | Slow Surrender | Polagana predaja | |
| 2002 | Fine Dead Girls | Fine mrtve djevojke | |
| 2003 | Here | Tu | |
| 2004 | Long Dark Night | Duga mračna noć | |
| 2005 | What Iva Recorded | Što je Iva snimila 21. listopada 2003. | |
| 2006 | The Melon Route | Put lubenica | |
| 2007 | Armin | Armin | |
| 2008 | No One's Son | Ničiji sin | |
| 2009 | Metastases | Metastaze | |
| 2010 | | 72 Days, The Abandoned | Sedamdeset i dva dana, Ostavljeni |
| 2011 | Kotlovina | Kotlovina | |
| 2012 | Cannibal Vegetarian | Ljudožder vegetarijanac | |
| 2013 | A Stranger | Obrana i zaštita | |
| 2014 | The Reaper | Kosac | |
| 2015 | These Are the Rules | Takva su pravila | |
| 2016 | On the Other Side | S one strane | |
| 2017 | The Constitution | Ustav Republike Hrvatske | |
| 2018 | Comic Sans | Comic Sans | |
| 2019 | What a Country! | Koja je ovo država | |
| 2020 | Fishing and Fisherman's Conversations | Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje | |
| 2021 | Once We Were Good for You | A bili smo vam dobri | |
| 2022 | The Staffroom | Zbornica | |
| 2023 | Safe Place | Sigurno mjesto | |
The following actors have received multiple awards. The list is sorted by the number of total awards. Years in bold indicate wins in Yugoslavian competition (1955–1990).